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motodraconisAhhh, Petra! The Rose City, the ancient (312 BC) capital of the Nabateans. The full nature of these people, who left no surviving literature, is somewhat mysterious. Petra itself was forgotten and lost to the Western world until 1812, when a Swiss Explorer learned Arabic and disguised himself as a Bedouin to infiltrate the city. Which at that time was a secret place inhabited by Bedouin, who had woven their own stories about the place and it's origins - not to mention rumoured hoards of "Egyptian" gold and treasure.
On of the first things you'll see on your amble down to the secret passage, are these large Gin Boxes, where the ancient Nabataeans housed their spirits.
Before you enter Petra you must process into a narrow gorge (the Siq) approx 1.2km in length, and punctuated at intervals with the remains of carvings.
And then suddenly, almost without warning...
Ooooh!
The Treasury! As named by Bedouin who believed that it once contained treasure, though it is in fact a Mausoleum.
Here's security on guard...
The Urn atop of the Treasury, shot up by Bedouin bullets in an attempt to break it open to free fabled treasure.
Such a view. IT'S SO ICONIC!
But seriously, it is pretty stunning. I'd heard that Petra can be hideously choked with gawking tourists, making enjoyment of the monuments tricky, but our guide confessed that the place was unusually quiet. Thus allowing me a chance to see the architecture almost unblemished by crowds. I suppose the threat of IS and terrorist horrors in the neighbouring countries to Jordan of Iraq and Syria have put people off visiting.
We took an opportunity to buy tickets to the Petra by night walk.
This is a magical experience (barring noisy tourists yakking on their phones) as you stroll in the darkness past the Gin boxes and along the Siq lit by the light of hundreds of flickering candles.
Arriving at the Treasury, where you are treated to a blanket of candles and some traditional music - at one point, a flute playing ethereally from within the inky blackness of the Treasury itself. Although... the whole thing would have improved greatly had they switched off the chug-chug of the sodding generator thunking away throughout. If you go on this, endeavour to be at the front of the group, to get the best seats, and a tasty cup of mint tea to boot.
Many tombs, Petra is larger and more sprawling than you might have expected.
While it is forbidden to enter the Treasury, most of the other tombs can be entered and explored.
The "Silk" Tomb.
Aaaah, wilderness and antiquity, the weight of 2000 years is upon me.
On the second day, we got up early and resolved to tackle the High Place walk.
This walk is NOT for the faint hearted, involving having to climb up terrifying fucking rockfaces and "is this actually a fucking path at all" trails. However, we succeeded in finding the High Place of Sacrifice, on the crest of the ridge... I have no idea why I appear to be giant sized...
Continuing the walk is an abstruse exercise of confusion, frustration and (in places) outright terror, as you struggle to divine where the sodding path begins and the cliff-face; ever-eager to pitch you into oblivion, ends. Occasionally, there are signs helpfully advising you to "stay on the path" at all costs. Unfortunately, where the actual fucking path is remains inscrutable.
But, to those foolhardy enough to persevere, there are rewards - the gorgeous Garden Temple, and the unusually carved Renaissance Tomb.
The walk ends with the path disintegrating entirely, and you end up wandering aimlessly over barren ground, scrambling over gorges and trying to get to a vantage point to work out were the hell you are and if you're going to end up having to camp out in a random tomb overnight. We were eventually able to spot a track, clamber and slither our way to it and find ourselves back in the main part of the site. At which point - we went for the famous 900 step climb...to the Monastery.
Though one of our intrepid gang had had enough by then and bailed, while another flagged down a donkey. (Fair enough, since we'd already clambered over a thousand rudimentary stairs.) The sights on the way, remained, as ever... spectacular...
So that was Petra. Was it better than Lalibela? Some of the bods on the Ethiopian trip were of the opinion that Petra is "much better" than Lalibela. Petra is certainly much older, and more expansive, but I would maintain that Lalibela is just as good as Petra and really ought to be held in the same league of fame and awe. The (younger admittedly) buildings of Lalibela are better and more structurally impressive to my eye, and the atmosphere richer. Petra is given over entirely to tourists, while Lalibela is still a living, breathing and vibrant nexus for Ethiopian pilgrims.
Which isn't to say for a minute that Petra isn't fantastic. It IS FANTASTIC AND MINDBLOWING. Lalibela is too.
See them both if you can.
On of the first things you'll see on your amble down to the secret passage, are these large Gin Boxes, where the ancient Nabataeans housed their spirits.
Before you enter Petra you must process into a narrow gorge (the Siq) approx 1.2km in length, and punctuated at intervals with the remains of carvings.
And then suddenly, almost without warning...
Ooooh!
The Treasury! As named by Bedouin who believed that it once contained treasure, though it is in fact a Mausoleum.
Here's security on guard...
The Urn atop of the Treasury, shot up by Bedouin bullets in an attempt to break it open to free fabled treasure.
Such a view. IT'S SO ICONIC!
But seriously, it is pretty stunning. I'd heard that Petra can be hideously choked with gawking tourists, making enjoyment of the monuments tricky, but our guide confessed that the place was unusually quiet. Thus allowing me a chance to see the architecture almost unblemished by crowds. I suppose the threat of IS and terrorist horrors in the neighbouring countries to Jordan of Iraq and Syria have put people off visiting.
We took an opportunity to buy tickets to the Petra by night walk.
This is a magical experience (barring noisy tourists yakking on their phones) as you stroll in the darkness past the Gin boxes and along the Siq lit by the light of hundreds of flickering candles.
Arriving at the Treasury, where you are treated to a blanket of candles and some traditional music - at one point, a flute playing ethereally from within the inky blackness of the Treasury itself. Although... the whole thing would have improved greatly had they switched off the chug-chug of the sodding generator thunking away throughout. If you go on this, endeavour to be at the front of the group, to get the best seats, and a tasty cup of mint tea to boot.
Many tombs, Petra is larger and more sprawling than you might have expected.
While it is forbidden to enter the Treasury, most of the other tombs can be entered and explored.
The "Silk" Tomb.
Aaaah, wilderness and antiquity, the weight of 2000 years is upon me.
On the second day, we got up early and resolved to tackle the High Place walk.
This walk is NOT for the faint hearted, involving having to climb up terrifying fucking rockfaces and "is this actually a fucking path at all" trails. However, we succeeded in finding the High Place of Sacrifice, on the crest of the ridge... I have no idea why I appear to be giant sized...
Continuing the walk is an abstruse exercise of confusion, frustration and (in places) outright terror, as you struggle to divine where the sodding path begins and the cliff-face; ever-eager to pitch you into oblivion, ends. Occasionally, there are signs helpfully advising you to "stay on the path" at all costs. Unfortunately, where the actual fucking path is remains inscrutable.
But, to those foolhardy enough to persevere, there are rewards - the gorgeous Garden Temple, and the unusually carved Renaissance Tomb.
The walk ends with the path disintegrating entirely, and you end up wandering aimlessly over barren ground, scrambling over gorges and trying to get to a vantage point to work out were the hell you are and if you're going to end up having to camp out in a random tomb overnight. We were eventually able to spot a track, clamber and slither our way to it and find ourselves back in the main part of the site. At which point - we went for the famous 900 step climb...to the Monastery.
Though one of our intrepid gang had had enough by then and bailed, while another flagged down a donkey. (Fair enough, since we'd already clambered over a thousand rudimentary stairs.) The sights on the way, remained, as ever... spectacular...
So that was Petra. Was it better than Lalibela? Some of the bods on the Ethiopian trip were of the opinion that Petra is "much better" than Lalibela. Petra is certainly much older, and more expansive, but I would maintain that Lalibela is just as good as Petra and really ought to be held in the same league of fame and awe. The (younger admittedly) buildings of Lalibela are better and more structurally impressive to my eye, and the atmosphere richer. Petra is given over entirely to tourists, while Lalibela is still a living, breathing and vibrant nexus for Ethiopian pilgrims.
Which isn't to say for a minute that Petra isn't fantastic. It IS FANTASTIC AND MINDBLOWING. Lalibela is too.
See them both if you can.
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Date: 2015-01-01 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 09:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 11:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-02 07:26 am (UTC)Easy... my arse. Thankfully I didn't start to get panicky until we fetched up with no paths or people in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere.